5 CENSUS SEARCH TIPS

1 8VH Different NDPHV

Mistranscriptions and alternative spellings are the most common reasons why you may not be able to find someone on the census. As well as using wildcards (see page 19), consider if your ancestor may have used other names (eg mother’s maiden name or a stepfather’s name) or anglicised the spelling. Find more advice on names on page 25.

2 Try Family GURXSV

Think who else might have been living with the person you are searchingg for. You could look for jjust them (useful if they have a more distinctive d name) or search s as a family group. g By doing this, you y can miss out the surname s if you think that t might be the problem. p Findmypast only o allows you to t add one extra household h member in i your search, but both b Ancestry and TheGenealogist T let you y add as many as a you want.

3 /HVV IV More

It’s tempting to add all of the information you know about someone to flush them out, but you need to experiment with what you leave in and take out. For example, if the age 79 has been mistranscribed as 19, then the year of birth will hinder, not help.

4 Check Different DDWDEDVHV

Different websites often use different indexes, and you usually don’t have to subscribe to search (you may need to register). So, if you can’t find someone in the census using Ancestry, for example, try Findmypast or TheGenealogist. It’s always worth searching FreeCEN ( freecen. org.uk) as well.

5 Search By AGGUHVV

Although your ancestors may not have been living at the same address as in other censuses, there are other documents that give clues about address – so think about what records may have been created at that time. For example, birth certificates record “where born”, which for most people was at home.